February 21, 2014 -
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. To commemorate that landmark legislation, and to discuss civil rights progress and challenges in the decades since, the City of Knoxville and partners across East Tennessee will be hosting a series of events throughout 2014.

Under the title "Unfinished Business: Then, Now & Going Forward," the series will include lectures, films, panel discussions and other events. For an ongoing calendar of activities, see www.cityofknoxville.org/civilrightsact.

The first event will be a panel discussion from noon-1 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28, in the Small Assembly Room of the City County Building, on "Voting, Voting Statistics and Districting." The panel will discuss the impact on local politics of Titles I and VIII of the Civil Rights Act, which barred burdensome voter registration requirements and required the compilation of registration and voting data.

The panel will be led by moderator Robert Booker, a former Tennessee state representative and Knoxville City Councilman, and current Executive Director of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center. Panel members will include state Rep. Joe Armstrong; City Councilman and former Mayor Daniel Brown; Knox County Election Commission Chairman Chris Heagerty; and Bill Lyons, Deputy to Mayor Madeline Rogero and a former political science professor at the University of Tennessee.

It will be a brown-bag affair, so attendees are invited to bring a lunch. The panel discussion is free and open to the public.